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Clif energy fuel – a review

I’ve been happily munching Clif products now for a year or thereabouts, so probably about time I wrote something about them. I’m often asked by others about what I eat during races (I think because I’m lucky in that I rarely get sick) so in case you were wondering what keeps me going, read on….

In the past few years I’ve probably tried most energy products, mainly for keeping me going in endurance races but also for training and recovery.

If I’m honest, most of them taste alike. Unfortunately this means that most energy products taste nice at first but after a few hours they start to taste like your tenth bag of gummy sweets in a row – if you’re lucky you can put up with it and maybe reduce the amount of sticky goo in your mouth by drinking fresh water or a cup of tea…but if you’re unlucky you’ll be spending some time stopped and vomiting at the side of the trail, road or course.

Due to the generosity of the guys at 2Pure, the UK distributor of Clif bars and Shot Bloks, I’ve pretty much always got some of them with me on long training rides or I’ve got a stack of them in my pit at 24 hour races. I don’t just like them because someone gives them to me though, I like them because they taste nice and carry on tasting nice when it matters – I’d been using them for a while before I decided to approach 2Pure and I did that because CLIF BARS TASTE LIKE CAKES.

Also tasting like cakes are Clif Builder’s Bars – high-protein recovery bars that will help you rebuild after a big training ride/run/whatever. As for the taste – just try a mint choc one and make your own mind up. They never last long 😉

Shot Bloks are ace – not only to they remind me of jelly babies but I can eat them whilst riding without them squirting all over my face like gels do. Oh, and the orange flavour ones have got caffeine in them which I like too 😉

Best of all though is the Clif Shot carb/electrolyte drink. Not only does it contain enough carbohydrate to keep the engine running but there are electrolytes in there too. This has resulted in me not getting cramp at all each time I’ve used this stuff in a race. My mate Phil had a nasty bout of cramp at the Gisburn 12 hour race last year, I gave him a couple of bottles of my Shot drink and I’m not joking here, his cramp went away. He went on to finish 4th in that race.

More info on all the products here and if you want to try anything just ask me or Dave at a race 😉